Things happen where you might be tempted to panic but doing so isn’t going to help. I had decided on a private taxi tour of Bagan as the best way to see the most Buddhist structures in one day as they are spread over 67 sq kms and there are more than 2000.
But the best laid plans… and so I found myself at the arrival gate in Bagan searching fruitlessly for the handheld sign that would bear my name. Not to be, I was nevertheless hustled out the door and into an awaiting taxi who wanted 35usd for a days tour. A fair price given they last from early morning arrival until sunset. However I had already paid in Yangon and a few kms into the journey I realized that, contrary to what I had been led to believe, this was not my car or my driver and I instructed him to turn around and go back to the airport.
Back inside the arrivals area I found a lovely helpful English speaking guide who called the number on my voucher and after a furious relay of other calls he assured me that although there had been a communication gap between Bagan and Yangon I would be picked up shortly. All in, I had 2 hours of waiting and my 8am tour started at 10am.
While I was getting in the right taxi the first taxi driver approached my pre-paid driver and demanded payment for the five minutes I was with him. My driver paid him and explained that he was paying him for taking me to the market, which he did not. No es mi pedo as my Mexican friends say.
Bagan Temples is a UNESCO World Heritage Site with good reason. Located on the banks of the Irrawaddy River in central Myanmar, and sprouting from the flat plains along the river is the largest collection of Buddhist temples, stupas and monasteries in the world. Time worn, reduced to rubble in some cases are stupas that show the bricks and mortar used to build them.Others are survivors, resplendently preserved and revered, covered in gold plate and gemstones they point the way to the heavens.
There are three settlements on the Bagan Temple plains; Old Bagan, New Bagan and Nyuang U Town. My tour started at the Nyuang market bustling with women sellers of fruits, vegetables, fabrics, jewellery, puppets, clothing, toys and many other goodies. Markets offer great photo opportunities, every stall is piled high with something of beauty, be it a food or a piece of clothing proudly displayed, I was told many times “made here, not China”. I bought several items including my own “longyi” for temple visits and a long legged skort as a further nod to modesty.
The temples and pagoda jut out of the plain in seemingly random patterns. Some are huddled close together and others are some distance apart. Each one is notable for different reasons, the gold, the Buddhas, the cool dark passageways, frescos, etc. In no way can one visit all 2000 in one day but I managed to pack in a few which to be honest became somewhat of a blur.
My driver spoke enough English to get me from A to B but not enough to fill in the mysteries of these ancient reminders of the 9th & 10th centuries. There is something haunting about the plains and what is poignantly missing is the human presence of the people that built them. To quote Borges, some places, “try to tell us something, or have said something we should not have missed, or are about to say something.”
The day ended with a short climb up a rare rise in the flat landscape to watch as the sun set behind the Temples of Bagan.
After a long day, especially considering my early start in Yangon, I was at last taken to the Bagan Wynn Hotel, one of the best hotels yet. Beautiful grounds and five star treatment at a very reasonable price through Hotels.com. My second day in Bagan was spent enjoying the pool and gardens of Bagan Wynn, catching my breath, working on my blog, answering friends emails and doing a little sink laundry. Tomorrow very early I am off to Mandalay, not by plane but by boat on the Irrawaddy River. Alarm set for 4:00 AM!
Between books, movies and a letter my brother once wrote to our mother in which he told her the was “on the road to Mandalay”, there awakened in me a romantic, nostalgic ideal of a place so different, magical, golden and so far away I could only dream of seeing it. But with some careful preparation requiring library time, online research, talking to people that have been here, and applying for and being granted a visa, here I am.
Getting here from Bangkok was easy and I had the foresight to ask , My Hotel (that is the actual name) to send a driver to meet me at the airport. Generally pick up service is out of my price range but I thought as a first time traveller to Yangon it would simplify things and it did. But, as I discovered, it is way cheaper and easy enough to take a taxi from the airport to your hotel. My Hotel is lovely and I would recommend it as being in a great location, well priced and right across the street from The People’s Park and the Shwedagon Pagoda, which I could see all lit up as I settled into my room. The staff at the Hotel are friendly and polite and make every effort to make you feel welcome, which I came to discover is a hallmark of Burmese people. The first thing upon arrival you are presented with a cold fruit juice before the business of check-in commences.
Day one I made a list on paper of the places I wanted to visit because I would never remember how to spell never mind pronounce them. Then I made a google map trail with all of the sites and started out the door. My driver that picked me up at the airport had helped me get cash (not available outside of Myanmar) and buy a SIM card with data making google maps and other on the go research possible.
First stop was a travel office where they helped me buy a ticket for the boat between Bagan and Mandalay where I will head after Yangon. All flights and hotels I have booked through Hotels.com and Air Asia or Myanmar airlines, flights being relatively cheap. I find the hotel prices a tad higher than in Thailand, but so far I have not been disappointed. As well I booked a private taxi tour in Bagan for 35USD. Generally making arrangements in a reputable travel agency rather than in your hotel can result in a greater variety and often a better price of options.
Business taken care of I headed to my first stop on the google map trail, the giant sized Reclining Buddha, weighing in at 66m long, 7.3m long face, 2.7 m worth of nose and 50cm high eyes, but who’s measuring? Not really old, built from 1959 to 1974, it is housed in the Chauk Htat Gyi Pagoda. Maybe the most interesting thing about the place was a giant sized mural depicting the life of Buddha, there were some English explanations and it covered his pre-life existence to his death and of course rebirth. The monks were welcoming and entrance was free/donations welcomed. Both the scale and the colour of the Buddha’s feet were impressive as were the golden robes.
My second stop was the most important spiritual home for the people of Myanmar. The huge golden stupa of the Shwedagon Pagoda is visible from many parts of the city. The shrine is said to have been built during the lifetime of the Buddha and houses eight of his hairs. I was very fortunate to hire a guide at the entrance and he was very informative. I never would have gleaned as much had I attempted it on my own. Si Thu, named for the day of the week he was born on and another word with significance to his parents, explained that everyone born on the same day off the week has the same first name or version thereof. Unlike us they do not have surnames and in business and relationships it is thought that some days are more suited than others to a positive interaction.
The most notable thing, even at the airport, were the Burmese people, they are calm, elegant and well-dressed. For the most part they still wear the long beautiful skirts and long-sleeved blouse/shirts that reflect their modest natures. They walk tall in these skirts and even though the men in particular, often wear a western style dress shirt they pair it the “longyi.” I was so lucky when visiting Yangon that it was Independence Day, a holiday where people travel and gather with family for outings and devotions in the temples. We saw many university graduates being photographed by family and friends with the stupa in the background demonstrating the importance of the shrine to the people. Another notable group were novitiates who, carrying golden umbrellas, gathered with their sponsors, on their last days before entering a monastery. The sponsors support them financially while in the service of Buddha which can be for a short time or a life time of service, but something that is undertaken by all men.
Archeologists have dated Shwedagon as having been started somewhere between the 6th and 14th century, but it withstood the tests of time, neglect, government, earthquakes and stands as a testament to Buddhist devotion. The Pagoda, complicated layers of internal bricks and mortar is covered with gold plate near the top, gold leaf in the lower areas and is encrusted with jewels and a huge diamond is the icing on the cake.
A busy day even by Shwedagon standards, I found the people were polite, curious and many wanted to practice their English and they didn’t mind having there pictures taken, in fact they seemed quite happy to oblige. The children I encountered were particularly endearing and well behaved, and obviously treasured by their families. Of course when visiting the temples one must leave ones shoes at the door, and it’s nothing short of a miracle that those same slippers, sandals, runners and flip flops find their way back to the right pair of feet. In order to avoid being offensive, Western guests are given a longyi to wear in exchange for a refundable cash deposit.
My guide had a couple of interesting stories involving the British regime, the fervor of which may have been influenced by the fact that it was Independence Day. The first story concerned a golden Buddha, returned to Myanmar by Queen Victoria following a dream that schooled her in the error of having removed it from it’s rightful home. The second involved a huge bell weighting many tons that the British army attempted to make off with but somehow let it slip into the river where it languished until rescued by the ingenuity of Burmese who managed to float it using bamboo pools and ferrying it back to the shore.
The rubies, emeralds, diamonds, sapphires (to name a few types of stones) encrusted in gold are most impressive. Although you can’t climb up to see them, there is a photo display of the different sections of the pagoda and the gemstones that adorn them. Devotees are able to purchase a gold plate and they have their names engraved. Rings and other forms of personal jewelry are donated and hung in different sections as offerings to the Buddha. Of course the biggest and most impressive stone of all is the diamond that tops the spire. Clearly an important place, the Shwedagon crowds were thick, I was glad I went (unwittingly) on a national holiday, giving me so much access to people watching.
Leaving the Pagoda behind I made my way to downtown Yangon. A densely populated area, you can really see the impact of urbanization as people from the countryside seek their fortunes in the city. The best time to just wander and watch is in the heart of a city and generally there is something interesting happening at the turn of every corner.
Like all colonial cities the influence of the colonizer, in this case the English, is everywhere in the core of Yangon. Some of the buildings built during the British era when Yangon was the capital, have been maintained but others are in disrepair. I happened upon the Independence Day celebration with live music and throngs of people visiting the main square with the tall Independence monument in the middle of the park. In addition to music there were food vendors, ballon sellers, entertainers and picnickers sitting on the grass enjoying the festive atmosphere.
When the British designed Yangon, they put the Sule Pagoda front and centre in the heart of the city directly in front of the Manabandoola Park , ironically the future home of the Independence Monument. There are some obvious signs of economic success in Yangon including business towers, glitzy hotels and a huge mall with every designer label store imaginable. A stark contrast to its next door neighbour the Bogyoe Aung San Market, built during colonial times it sells the signature treasures of Myanmar to tourists including jewellery, paintings, puppets, lacquerware and jade. An even greater contrast is the Theingyi Zedi fruit and vegetable market with hundreds of ramshackle stalls, narrow aisles, and hoards of people elbowing their way through the chaos.
Yangon was more than a surprise to me. I expected something more dismal or downhearted about the place given recent history but it was surprisingly calm in it’s busyness, peaceful in it’s industry and beautiful in its hodgepodge of then and now. My admiration for the city is directly attributable to the welcome given by the friendly, warm people I met on my Yangon wandering.
Koh Panang is one of dozens of islands in Thailand, located along the east coast in the Andaman Sea and off the west coast in the Gulf of Thailand. Like most of them, Koh (meaning island) Pha-Ngan is a holiday destination for flocks of beach goers from all corners of the globe. Popular with backpackers, families, solo travellers, snowbirds and the like, the islands are accustomed to foreign visitors and have really smooth operations that get you from airports to ports, on to ferries, and finally out to the islands.
From my limited knowledge I would think that Koh Panang is fairly typical. White sandy beaches, lots of excursions and activities and plenty of partying, especially notable as we were there for New Years. As evidence of some free spirited behaviour we same many bandaged people on the beaches following the celebrations.
The main transport around the island are rented scooters and motos, which accounted for many of the bandaged limbs and heads we spotted after New Years.
After the heat and hard work negotiating our way through Cambodia it was nice to have a few days of sun, sand and delicious Thai food.Heather had a friend from the UK on Koh Pha-Ngan and she was there with friends from New Zealand. They were a lively bunch of family and friends and were so much fun. The usual FB friends invites transpired and hopefully our paths will cross again. They come to Koh Panang yearly, for several months at a time, and I think this is true of many of the island visitors.
We stayed at the See Through Boutique Hotel which did not live up to the photos on Hotels.com. It was OK but not great in terms of the rooms themselves, in definite need of some upgrades and paint. But you couldn’t beat the location and for a small fee we moved from a standard hotel type room to a bungalow which had a veranda with hammock, a fridge and air conditioning. Right on the beach it was a short walk to their beach front restaurant which served a decent breakfast but not so great after that. Massage of course is a main event and at about $15.00CAD I enjoyed a couple of sessions.
And now on to the real job of traveling and seeing the historic and cultural sites of SE Asia. With Cambodia done my next stop is Yangon, Myanmar, formerly Rangoon, Burma.
Phnom Penh is a capital but in comparison to other SE Asian capitals it is still relatively easy to get to know and travelling about in Tuk Tuks, armed with google maps, proved an economic and efficient means of getting around through the crowds and traffic.
The city is situated along the Tonle Sap and Mekong Rivers which eventually empties itself into the Mekong delta in VietNam. The Okay Boutique Hotel our home for four nights was off a main artery, up a narrow alley and very close to the places you want to visit in Phnom Penh. The lobby of the hotel, heavy and dark with carved and filigreed highly polished wood and tiled floors glinting with gold coloured floral designs is quite elegant. The giant Buddha, leather furniture and water ponds with floating lotus combine to make you feel like you are snuggly inside an old wooden jewelry box.
We noticed a change in city folk right away, as one would expect. It took a little longer to get friendly service and the warm Cambodian smile, but generally we faired once we learned we had to bargain and make certain that we weren’t overcharged by the Tuk Tuk drivers that hangout in front of hotels. Money in Cambodia is interesting as the US dollar is dispensed in ATM’s, accepted everywhere, given as change and can be mixed at will when paying or getting change. The rate while for us was 4000 Cambodia Riel to 1USD. The mix of currencies was fairly fluid and easy to keep track of in the end.
Our hotel was close to most of the main attractions; the Royal Palace, the Royal Museum and the main Watt, the Silver Pagoda. We spent our mornings out and about but admittedly were driven back to our hotel and the pool by the afternoon heat. Up on the 14th floor the pool afforded a great view of the surrounding city, a patchwork of jumbled together shorter buildings, alleys main thoroughfare and an ever growing number of glassy modern towers. Cambodias main exports are agricultural products and fabrics/clothing. Tourism is growing and there is evidence of economic growth in the hustle and bustle.
The horror of the Khmer Rouge all but sent Cambodia, once one of the jewels of the orient, back to the stone ages. All commerce, religion, ownership, personal freedom or political choice were forbidden by Pol Pot and his regime and 25% of the population died between 1975 and 1979. By the time the Vietnamese Government helped establish a new style of communist government in the 80’s, not so cruel as the Khmer Rouge, all families had suffered loses and many had fled the country. Today you do not see a lot of old people in Cambodia with the largest population group being under 30. At the killing fields we saw large school groups being lead through the history of this dark time with a reminder never to let history repeat itself in the same way again.
We were warned frequently to watch our bags and we had read in our guide books that tourists had been robbed and even shot so we were very cautious at night, carrying only what was necessary and sticking mainly to the busy areas along the Mekong River or surrounding the markets.
The markets are worth visiting if only for the street food. The Night Market was our first and we ate barbecue at several stalls. You pick your food with tongs, place it in a basket and hand it over for cooking. Not as spicey as Thai food, Cambodian spicing is more subtle, lots of lemongrass and capsicum.
We visited the “Russian Market” as it is known, it is a newer market but the passage ways are very narrow and it is really crowded with food sellers in the middle and dry goods people surrounding them. Not easy to negotiate and we found most of the merchandise was low quality. We didn’t stay long were glad we went.
The Central Market is another story. A permanent dome structure covers the market and the passageways are wider and the stalls organized according to merchandise, it’s earlier to find what you’re looking for and seemingly you can buy just about anything but be prepared to barter.
Along the shore of the Tonle Sap River is the Sisowath Quay where Cambodians picnic, exercise and enjoy the cool night air surrounded by a vast array of coloured lights on boats and building. Very pretty and colourful. We ate and people watched in a few restaurants in this area and our last night at a seafood restaurant near the Russian market. It was a longer ride from our hotel, but well worth it. We dined on a wonderful lemongrass and shrimp stir fry with rice followed by a peppered crab stir fry with glass noodles. Very good. We have found that ordering two dishes and sharing family style works really well.
On the whole Cambodia is very inexpensive, a Tuk Tuk in the city is generally 2 or 3USD to get you where you’re going, and a meal with a beer or a G&T around 5USD. We stayed a little upmarket (50CAD) but it was worth it to have a quiet place off the main streets with a pool.
Gentle, kind and beautiful my travels in Cambodia have been made easy and enjoyable by the people. I’m traveling with my friend Heather for a few weeks before she returns to work in England. She kindly met me at the international airport in Bangkok after a long flight from London. We transferred to the smaller airport and flew off to Siem Reap where we stayed at a lovely little guesthouse off the noisy tourist streets. Chheng Residence Hotel was lovely with a garden pool area and very helpful staff. Always good to have somewhere to cool down the body temp after a long hot day of exploring.
Siem Reap Psar Chas area by day
After dinner and a swim, we wandered out into the evening and strolled down the avenues to the river and into Psar Chas, the old French colonial heart of Siem Reap. There are markets, restaurants and bars tucked away in the old French-era shophouses and the Main Street of the area is known as Pub street. There were tons of tourists and it was crowded but still somehow manages to keep a small town feeling. Lots of travellers, vacationers mingling with the Khmer people as the Cambodians and their language are called.
Other than the pretty zip of this little town people come to Siem Reap to visit the Angkor Temples, impressive monuments to the greatest ancient civilization in SE Asia. These 12th century temples were originally built as places of Hindu worship and later over the eons converted to Buddhist Temples. There are more than one hundred monuments spread over 3000 acres that mark where the Angkor era was born and marked by huge building projects. We managed to visit Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom and Phnom Bakheng for the sunset. After repeated attacks from Siam in the 15th century the city was abandoned and lost to the jungle. An extraordinary set of ruins one can see where the early people of Cambodia lived and worshipped and displayed their wealth and culture.
Famously crowded
Angkor Watt
Our Lovely Guide
Angkor Watt with Tuk Tuk Driver/Guide
We had a nice mix of town/country while in the Siem Reap area by shifting from the Chheung Residence to the Bong Thom Forest Lodge about twenty minutes by Tuk Tuk outside of Siem Reap. A beautiful resort hotel it had proximity to some of the lesser visited temples and was a nice respite from the hustle and bustle of the city. The food was great and we were given a “certified” cooking lesson on how to make mango salad and the national dish of fish amok, a coconut cream base mildly spiced dish served with rice.
There are buses and vans etc that will get you from Siem Reap. To Phnom Penh the capital, but since hiring a private car was a $100USD option we decided on that and it would allow us to make a couple of stops along the way. Our driver was great and our first request was to stop and see the floating villages on Tonle Sap Lake. Interestingly, the people who live in the floating villages are mostly stateless ethnic Vietnamese fishermen and their families. The homes are pretty basic and the lake is not somewhere you would want to swim but it is pretty nonetheless and bordered by green rice fields. We stuck to the land roads but you are able to catch one of many boat tours that take you up and down the lake and to a variety of villages, some genuinely floating and other on poles. We also tried to visit some Monks who live along highway 6 near Kompong but our driver was unable to locate the school where a Canadian friend had volunteered. It was a long day in the car, broken up by a couple of stops and a great lunch we finally entered Phnom Penh as dark was settling in.
For me, there is no place like a big city before Christmas kicks off, and London is no slouch when it comes to lighting up for the festive season. Everywhere you turn there are trees, streets, buildings and anything else that doesn’t move, festooned with bright lights, making even the usual things to do all the more enjoyable.
Sights and Sounds of London with Christmas Flair
Luckily, I spent the first few nights in Kensington at the Holiday Inn. I say luckily because this was a complimentary upgrade from Hotels.com as my original hotel (not nearly as swank), was overbooked. A lovely predicament….my room was big by London standards, indeed I could have swung a cat by the tail in a complete circle without touching a wall. It even had a comfortable queen size bed and was in a great location. Shops, restaurants, the underground and great wandering, all right out side my door. I’m oddly happy that it gets dark in pre-Christmas London, because the holiday lights are fantastic.
Staying in Kensington I was close to Hyde Park so I took in the Queen Victoria exhibits celebrating the 200th anniversary of her birth in Kensington Palace. There were exhibits of her toys including a huge dollhouse and puppet theatre. Of course it sounds lovely to have it all and live in a palace but at what cost to personal freedom. Her history as a grownup was covered in the the crown exhibition including jewels (pretty ornate) and her story as a woman (apparently she opposed the franchise for women), mother (lots of children), wife (adored Albert by all accounts) and monarch (long did she reign).
Using both the internet and TKTS ticket both in Leicester Square (best place to get discounted same day tickets), I was able to see a number of productions. In a small theatre just off Leicester Square I saw Miss Kiddy and the Cads, the ultimate in vintage sophistication but with a modern twist giving a jazz beat to contemporary hit tunes. The audience included a couple of avid fans that never miss a Miss Kiddy show, one of whom came miles to see her. Lots of fun.
In contrast, the next night I ventured out to the Royal Albert Hall for the BT Christmas Concert featuring the Royal Symphony Orchestra with the BT choir and the London Community Gospel choir which rocked the house. People were on their feet singing, dancing and clapping, “taken to church” by the great vocals.
Seeing Hamilton in the Victoria Palace Theatre, was a highlight. Had great seats 4 rows from the stage so could see the details of the action. A real homage to the long forgotten roll of Blacks in gaining independence from England and in the writing of the US constitution.
A new musical called & Juliet was playing at the Shaftesbury and I got to witness William Shakespeare and his wife Anne Hathaway attempting to sort out their flagging marriage by cowriting a very different ending to the Romeo and Juliet. Lots of fun and quirky twists and best of all the music was chosen from contemporary hits sung to complement the story line which caused lots of laughter in the audience. Picture Juliet (not dead) singing I’m On Fire. And to cap off a perfect evening, just wandering my way through the West End, China Town and surrounding streets to and from the theatre was pleasure in itself.
Prior to heading to St. Martin’s in the Field, I was given a personal tour of the palatial Foreign Office, built to impress, by a young friend who works there. A lovely young woman, Liz and I even had a peek at No. 10 Downing as we exited the Foreign Office before heading to dine in the Crypt of St. Marin’s. St. Martin’s is another personal favourite thing to do, the acoustics are fantastic and the world class Academy of St. Martin’s performed Vivaldi’s “Winter” and were joined by a children’s choir for Christmas Carols. As at Royal Albert Hall the audience was invited to sing-along at least part of the time. London audiences love this participation element and you’d never know they had just experienced a terrorist attack on London bridge or that the UK was on the brink of a national election that might see them exit the EU. (We all know the results as I edit)
Close to St. Martin’s is Covent Garden with the Royal Opera House, Christmas markets and restaurants and where opera singers are the buskers. Cold but relatively clear, it was a good night to wander the streets all the way from Covent Garden, through Trafalgar Square, Up Regent Street and along to Oxford Circus.
Last accommodation was a tube ride away from Kensington on the Piccadilly Line to Finsbury Park where I met up with friends Dawn & Craig in a rented air BnB. Not the fanciest digs but a basic two bedroom flat with a kitchen was fine as we spent most of our time out and about. A trip to the Christmas Market on the Southbank, Harrods and Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park were great fun.
No trip to London is complete without visiting the zebra cross-walk where the Beatles famously strode their way to the Abbey Road Recording Studio. Close by is the Regent Canal and Little Venice where you can take a longboat to Camden Locks and the market and shops that were home to punk rockers but are now mainly touristy. Packed with Christmas shoppers it was cheek to jowl on the tube back to the flat.
Saying goodbye to Dawn and Craig (they left for Scotland) and I headed out to a hotel close to Heathrow for a couple of nights before I fly off to Bangkok. Another London chapter concludes!
Wander With Stella 